Two dealers were jailed after heading an operation importing drugs from Spain.
Jack Pritchard, 26, and Matthew Hall, 30, from Ellesmere Port, were in charge of an operation that sourced and imported large quantities of cannabis from Spain, as well as the onward supply of the Class B drug in the UK. The pair were jailed after the border force intercepted multiple packages containing the drugs intended for delivery to several homes in Ellesmere Port in September 2020.
Pritchard and Hall would recruit people from the town to have parcels delivered to their homes. Following an investigation police seized 19kg of cannabis after searching homes on Heath Grove, Kronsbeck Avenue, Scotton Avenue, Tennyson Road and Aldgate in Ellesmere Port.
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The investigation, known as Operation Flintlocks, was able to prove a total of 96 kilograms of Cannabis had been imported by the group, with a potential street value of £1,117,640.
At a hearing at Chester Crown Court on Friday, December 9, Pritchard and Hall pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import a Class B controlled drug with intent to evade prohibition. Hall also pleaded guilty to offering to supply a Class A controlled drug (cocaine).
The pair were given a combined total of six years in prison.
Cheshire Police's Detective Constable Wellings said: "This was an extensive and complex investigation which clearly showed Pritchard and Hall as head members of a calculated plan to bring illegal drugs into Ellesmere Port.
"These men have a clear disregard for the law, and I hope the sentences handed to them will provide reassurance to residents who have been affected by their actions.
"Drugs such as these have no place on our streets and by tackling Hall and Pritchard and seizing large quantities of illegal substances, we have been able to intervene and take these drugs off the streets of Ellesmere Port.
"I hope this sends a clear message that drugs have no place in the town and we are committed to doing all we can to remove those involved in the supply of such drugs from our communities."
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